Remo and Tracy Sica with their daughter Remy at their renovated Haberfield house.

Remo Sica has had a hard month. The teacher recently cut his hand badly while teaching a woodwork class and has been at home recovering from surgery to reattach a severed finger.

But his passion for woodwork and antique restoration has also brought Sica good fortune, allowing him to restore and extend a weatherboard beauty in Haberfield. He is hoping his luck will change when the property goes to auction on December 1 through BresicWhitney.

The price guide of more than $1.3 million seems modest considering the trials and triumphs that have transpired since Sica's $373,500 purchase in 2001.

The original facade.

New kid in town

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Having recently moved up from Melbourne, Sica did not expect to find a property to buy so quickly. But after the first inspection of the four-bedroom home at 55 Hawthorne Parade, Haberfield, he knew this was the house for him.

''I walked in and, being an antique restorer by trade, well it's a timber home and you can do a lot with timber homes,'' he says.

The end product.

However, not everyone was convinced. ''We had the baby with us, who is now 14, and she walked in and said, 'No way, it's terrible.'''

Undoing mistakes

The first step was to make the property liveable, which meant undoing the work of previous owners that had robbed the property of its period charm.

The new backyard.

The couple stripped the property bare and found original fireplaces and other period quirks. In the back shed they found old skirting and architraves, which they were able to reincorporate into the property.

Extending into the future

Having restored the front part of the house, it was time to extend the property, turning it into a functional family home. This is where things started to go wrong. The build began in 2007 and was supposed to finish in February 2008. In September 2008, Sica and his builders parted ways.

Floor plan

''They took too long and I think they just went bad,'' he says.

''They underestimated the costs of things. I think their expenses blew out and then continued to do so.

''I could see the writing on the wall and they weren't prepared for what had to be done, so I took over as project manager and then got contractors in.''

This setback not only extended the construction time but also doubled the cost of the build.

Sica then contacted a builder he had worked with in the past and by 2010 the two had completed the project.

Lesson learnt

During the past decade, Sica has learnt some hard lessons.

''You pay what you pay, but you've got to get value for money, and that's the bottom line,'' he says. ''You put your trust in people, but sometimes that doesn't work out.''

Sica says the only person he really trusted with a job such as this was himself. It's no surprise his personality is so present in the final product.

''The house has been renovated and built like I make furniture: it's neat, tidy and there are no gaps,'' he says.

''It's done to the way I would expect and I am fairly meticulous when it comes to my work.''

Although there were cheaper avenues open to him when he started the extension five years ago, Sica has no regrets.

''What you come out with is a piece of history; this house will live for another hundred years.''

In a nutshell

Time Planning: 12 months; build: four years.

Land size 357 sq m.

Architect Graham Hall - Graham Hall & Partners, 9692 0941.

Builder various.

Green points

2kW solar panels.

Thermal and acoustic insulation in walls, ceiling and roof.

Nanotechnology coating on windows makes the glass more thermally efficient.

Plumbing for water tanks.

Extension faces north-east to maximise sunlight.

Designed to maximise cross-ventilation through windows, doors and skylight.

Favourite feature Sica says: ''The part of the house I like is the front facade. Compared to what it was like, it's just amazing. The reaction we get from our neighbours and people walking past, they've seen this house transformed over the last 10 years.''

Insider's tip Sica says: ''See the quality of their [builder's] work. For me in a strange city not knowing anybody, it was difficult and I made mistakes on the way. It's hit and miss so you have to go into these things with a bit of knowledge and if you don't, that's where it gets scary.''

What went right

Sica has created a house that reflects his passion for woodwork and restoration.

What went wrong

Sica was burnt by his builders, meaning time and cost blow-outs.

1 comment so far

This renovation displays the quintessential “Sydney” mentality: my story, no matter how mundane, no matter how completely uninteresting it is to anyone not directly involved, no matter how badly it reflects upon my judgement, no matter how selfish and shallow it makes me appear, *deserves* to be told.